6 Core Group and Team Coaching Resources: 12 Days of Holidays 2022 - Day 1 of 12

 For years (and I mean years) I've done a year end series of blog posts. Take a  look at the 2010 and
2016 series here. My team here at Potentials Realized asked me earlier this month if I'd be doing something special for the holidays and I said, OF COURSE! So here we go with the 12 days of holidays for 2022. The series this year will include some tips and a focus on one of our many programs and services. I hope you join us for all 12 posts leading up to December 23rd (our 12th day!)

I thought I'd start with 6 Core Group and Team Coaching Resources I return to time and time again, ones that I think every coach will want to consider having in their toolkit:

1. Post it notes - Post it notes continue to be a favorite of mine and have been so for decades now. They are a great tool to elicit participation from all group members, see connections and focus thoughts. Read this 2008 post I did entitled Post It Notes: A Facilitators Ally. In the virtual space, Miro and Mural are our digital twin.

2. Visual Decks - For many years I have been using visual cards and photographs with in person and virtual groups. A wonderful "conversation sparker" across differences, photos help group members create new perspectives, insights and connections. Whether you are using Visual Explorer, the JICT Deck, Points of you - The Coaching Game, or Conversation Sparker (my deck) consider the many ways you can use cards as openers, closers, or as the main focus of the session.  In late November 2016 I released the 40 Ways to Use Visual Cards E-Resource, which includes detailed instructions on 40 ways to facilitate activities with cards (from goal setting, to innovation, to strategic planning, to closure) and also five worksheets you can use "as is".

Working with visuals was also my focus of the Design Studio Blab #6 - View it here.

3. A selection of virtual platforms - The last few years have shown the importance of having a variety of platforms at our disposal - from Zoom, to Teams to others, what are you using to bring people together?

4. A variety of back-pocket ideas - You never know what's going to be needed when you work with groups and teams. It's always a great idea to take stock of the different activities and resources we have at our disposal. Spend 15 minutes this week doing an inventory of what you have available and/or going through some of the books/resources you which are accumulating dust. What might you bring into an upcoming session?

5. A community of other practitioners - Developing your own network of follow facilitators/coaches and trainers is not only good for business when you want to scale your work, it's also really important in terms of ongoing development. Consider how you will invest in your relationships with other practitioners this year, and also expand your skill base.

6. Evaluation Resources - Gathering feedback about what's working well, and what's not, helps keep programming expanding, and coaching growing. What are you doing to poll your group and team members throughout the coaching process.  I always like to recommend Lisa Edward's work around evaluation and coaching.

That's it for today - Day 1 of 12 complete for this year's 12 Days of Holidays.

Be sure to check out our Conversation Sparker decks - including the Square Journaling Cards (my favorite) and the standard Conversation Sparker decks - digital edition.

Enjoy!

Jennifer

Jennifer Britton

GroupCoachingEssentials.ca | Potentials Realized

What is your unique style as a coach? Take 2-minutes to complete the NEW Group and Team Coaching Superpower Quiz. You can find it at https://bit.ly/gtcoachingsuperpower. Share your style using the comments below and/or follow along on Instagram at our CoachingBizBuilder site.

Join us for an upcoming program including: 

Group Coaching Essentials - Fridays 1015 - 1130 am ET: January 13, 20, 27, February 4 and 11 (with Evana) - 8.75 CCes

Advanced Group and Team Coaching Practicum - 10 CCEs - Fridays 1230 - 145 pm ET: January 13 - mid-Feb (6 weeks) with Jennifer

Reconnecting Workspaces Certified Coach - 24 CCEs - Join us for an intensive 3 day virtual delivery on December 12, 19, 21  and build out your specialization for coaching in today's evolving workspaces - hybrid, in-person and remote. 1, 2 and 6 payments available.  Calls 830 - 430 pm ET. With Jennifer.

Team Coaching Essentials (14 CCEs)  - Being asked to coach teams? Equip yourself with the foundations of this quickly evolving field. This program is grounded in our From One to Many methodology PLUS what works right now in today's evolving workspace. 6 week program on Mondays 12 - 130 pm ET  January 9,  23, 30, February 6, 13, 27 2023 with Kathy

Mentor Coaching Group - 10 hours Fridays 9-10 am ET: January 13 - April 13th with Jennifer. 5 spots open. (For ACC renewal or PCC)

Year End Business Planning Retreat - December 13 (1 - 5 pm ET) with Jennifer (4 spots open)

Check out our Intensive December 2022 offerings which will be delivered by Jennifer in early December. More information and schedule at GroupCoachingEssentials.ca.

SAVE THE DATE For our 19th Annual Holiday Party - 10 - 1 pm ET on Tuesday December 20th (virtual on zoom)!

 

 

New Effective Group Coaching Video - Five Ways to Use Index Cards

For those of you who like videos, I've posted a video this week at our YouTube channel which includes five ways to use index cards. You can view it here.

For those with my book, Effective Group Coaching, you can find the five ways on pages 244 and 245. Click on over now to hear me talk about them.

How might you incorporate index cards into your next group or team program?

Enjoy!

With best wishes,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, MES, CPT
Group Coaching Essentials.com
(416)996-TEAM (8326)

Measuring the Impact of Team and Group Coaching

Measurement was an area flagged in the 2012 ICF Global Coaching Survey as a key area for the profession to keep an eye on, as well as a trend/hot topic area I flagged last month in my year end review call. How do you currently measure the impact of coaching - whether it is individual, team or groups? What changes/modifications would you like to make in this area?

In Effective Group Coaching (pages 222-224) I provide a very high level overview of the Four Levels of Evaluation by Kirkpatrick which is commonly used in the training and performance realm. Very briefly, these are:
Level 1 - Reaction - What do clients like about the program? This measures individual reaction - what do people like. It often is referred to as the "smile" sheets
Level 2 - Learning - What did clients learn from the program? This level looks at what specific insights people have acquired.  It looks at
Level 3 - Application - How have clients applied the learning/insights from the program? What are people doing differently after the program (short term and medium term)? For teams, this may be looking at the application of some of the new frameworks you have explored (i.e. difficult conversations) or integration of their team contracts. In leadership group coaching application may be include new supervisors adjusting their communication style with their team, based on what they have learned about themselves.
Level 4 - Results - What is the business impact/results from the program? This is much harder to measure and isolate. As Phil Sandahl of Team Coaching International recommends, the work will benefit from asking team members to identify success measurements that are relevant at the start of the engagement. Team members themselves will be well versed on what relevant measures are for their industry and context.

As I have seen in my work, measurement at higher levels (beyond measuring only initial reaction, and learning) can be a very sophisticated activity. Wherever possible I try to tap into the resources and expertise available within an organization. These individuals may be able to provide expertise in the area, what metrics are already being tracked, as well as to provide insight as to what the current state of evaluation within their organization.

Even if we as coach practitioners are not going to develop expertise in this area, it is useful for coaches to develop an basic understanding of evaluation and measurement for coaching. Two of the resources I point coaches towards include:

Anderson and Anderson - Coaching that Counts (2004)
Patricia Phillips, Jack J Phillips and Lisa Ann Edwards - Measuring the Success of Coaching (2012)

What resources would you recommend around measurement?

Have a great week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CPCC
GroupCoachingEssentials.com
Phone: (416)996-TEAM (8326)
Upcoming programs include: 90 Day BizSuccess Group Coaching Program for Coaches (Thurs 2-3 pm ET: Jan 24 - April 25),  the Group Coaching Essentials teleseminar(Tues 2 - 3:15 pm ET): Feb 5, 12, 19, 26 and March 5 - 6.75 CCEs) and the Mentor Coaching Group (Tues 10-11am ET): Feb 5 - May 7, 2013 (for ACC and PCC portfolio applications and ACC Rewewals)

Four Reasons to Evaluate Your Group Coaching Work

Evaluation is an often overlooked component of the group coaching process. What do you do for evaluation of your programs? Here are four reasons why evaluation is really important:

1. To get a sense of the pulse of the group. Checking in with the group at the end of each session, and throughout is an important action to get a sense of the where the group is. In addition to "formal" feedback, scan the group throughout (whether virtual or in person) and notice the body language, words and energy of the interactions. Also notice what is not being said within the group.

2. To allow you to make changes to the pace, flow and structure of the program, real time. This feedback, both formal and real-time will enable you to change the flow, language and even structure of the program to meet the needs of that particular group. If you are a coach who runs the same group coaching program month after month with different groups, notice how it plays out differently each time, because of the different group needs.

3. For marketing purposes - Ask and listen throughout the program for what group members are learning, taking away, and having insights around. Your current group members will be great advocates based on their experience. Also do not overlook the power of a testimonial or personal recommendation from an alumni of your work. Ask group members as to what they see as the benefits and focus of the work - in the short term, medium term and long term.

4. For your own learning - As a coach, feedback is critical to know how we are meeting the needs of our clients. As we mature in our work, we may not have the same formal feedback structures that newer coaches have through supervisions, coach training and/or mentor coaching.

Questions to Consider:
What feedback have you recently received about your coaching and its' impact?
What themes you you notice?
As you reflect on the feedback you have received, what changes do you want to make?
What types of feedback do you want to build in/ask for, going fowrard?

Have a terrific week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CPCC
Author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010)
Group Coaching Essentials - Next program starts Tuesday Jan 24th from 10:30 - 11:45 am Eastern. Group Calls on Jan 24, 31, Feb 7, 14, 21 (6.75 CCEs with the ICF)